HOW TO PLAY TENNIS.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 1915, 8 September 1921, Page 3

HOW TO PLAY TENNIS.

(By William T. Tilden, Champion of the World.) Make the other man run whenever possible. Shoot for his backhand as a rule. An important phase of the question of court position is generalship on the court. It involves: First: Position. Second: The other man’s game. Third: Hcadwork and selection of the style game you play. Position will be explained at length in the next article. Whenever possible, place tbe other man in a position that he lias to play a shot that he docs not like, while you strive continually for the attacking position of the net.

Tbe relation to you of the other man’s game. Never play the other man’s game unless ; t happens to be your own natural style.

There are. generally speaking, the following styles of tennis: First: Tlic net game: Your opponent forces tbe net at all times, follows his service in, and relies on beating you himself, not on your beating yourself. To meet this game rely on:

(a) Takng the net yourself'whenever possible. Hi us making your opponent play from a position he dislikes, the back court. Always follow your service to the net.

(b) Hit a sharp, chopping, slow ground stroke at the man’s feet as be comes in, and play generally for the side lines. Do not try to pass clean on every shot, but make him reach and trust to his missing as many as he kills.

Do not rely on speed, since tbe faster the shot is driven the easier it is to volley. The real reason Johnston’s game was so effective against both Williams and McLoughlin’s is that they relied on speed instead of hitting slow drop shots at his feet when he played mid-court. (c) When pressed and out of position, lob, and lob high and deep. It is better to lob outj and have your opponent chase it than lob short and have, him murder it, since it gives him confidence to hit successful overheads. Second; The back court driving game is the second style of play. TACTICS. There are many ways of meeting this game. (a) You can play him at his own game and drive from the back court. This is not a good plan unless it is your natural game. (b) You may chop and rely on his missing, owing to the spin on your shot. This is Wallace Johnson’s and Joe Armstrong’s method of beating this game, although Armstrong also comes to the net. „ (c) You can drop short shots, and when your opponent is drawn out of his favourite position, either lob or drive deep, thus catching him retreating, an almost fatal blunder for any man. (d) And by far the best method is to take the attack in your own hands and go to the net whenever possible and volley off short. This will give no chance to your opponent to make his favourite ground stroke, and will put you in the most hdvantageous position in the court. Let all young players develop the net game rapidly as possible, no matter how often they get beaten in the practice while doing it.

Third: The chop stroke back-court game. The same remarks which apply to the ground stroke game, just analysed here, except that it is more imperative to go to the net, since tho chop is a hard stroke to successfully play from the back court. Fourth: The "pat-ball” or steady game.

When meeting a man who plays this most exasperating style of tennis, start out with two thoughts; (a) I won’t play his game. (b) I will attack all the time. Never let a steady player put you on the defensive. Hit consistently hard all the time, and go to the net whenever possible. Keep the game moving as rapidly as possible, and mix your shots as often as Is practicable. “FORCE THE OTHER MAN.” The notable examples of this siylo of game are Norman Swayne, Stanley Pearson, Stanley Rogers, and L. C. Wister. These men usually allow the other man to beat himself, and seldom really put the finishing punch in any match. Thus we see that we must either force the other man to play our game—this should be done whenever possible—or adapt our game to meet the style of the other man. Therefore it is a good thing t,o learn as many different strokes as possible, and learn to mix them as easily as possible. In the foregoing it has been taken for granted a man could vary his game. In tills we will take it for granted that we have a brain and then let us use it.

It is hard work, rapid thinking, and quick judgment which determine the shot to be played when you have the choice of two or more.

In general play the shot that comow natural when all you need is to get the ball back, but whenever you are out of position and the other man is in, hit for the unusual and unexpected shot, and since, if you make it. you score one for yourself and take a point away from your opponent that he is counting on. which always has a discouraging effect on him while if you play the obvious shot you not only waste method, but give the other man an opportunity to make a kill which gives him more confidence. If you must lose a point, lose it trying for it and not just offering it up as a sacrifice. I’OIXTS TO REMEMBER. The following points are well to bear in mind: First: Make the other man run whenever possible. Second: Shoot for his backhand as a rule, since that is the weak spot of most games. Third: Aim to make the other man play from a position he does not wish to, or a shot he is not used to. Fourth: Always' consider the psychological effect of all shots, even the ones you miss. Remember that, if you can get the other man watching for the unexpected and paying attention to your own game instead of his own, you have destroyed his attacking. since that depends solely on complete concentration on the person's own game who is attacking. Fifth: As far as possible never throw away easy points by trying for the spectacular kill or shot. It counts too much against you in the psychology of the game. A missed shot at a critical time will often give the other man sufficient confidence to pull the match out of the fire while you are still wondering just why you missed that shot.